Tag Archives: seph lawless

Nova House Lies

30 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by in Breaking the News, ParaScammers

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Rip Off Report Seph Lawless

Rip Off Report Seph Lawless

I am re-posting because I will not be censored or harassed. Join me in exposing #ParaScammers.

Nova House Mystery

The Internet was abuzz prior to Halloween. Photographer Seph Lawless, a pseudonym, visited several abandoned houses across America and published a coffee table book 13: An American Horror Story. The various websites offered a preview of the houses with brief teasers written by the photographer. One house was especially sinister: The Nova House.

According to Lawless, the Nova House was the site of a horrible accident. In 1958, Benjamin Albright accidently shot and killed his son. Stricken with grief he killed his wife and then turned the gun on himself. Since then the house sits abandoned—shuttered. Moreover, personal items remain inside. What a great story!

The problem is I cannot find any online stories related to this house. Further, I cannot locate any death certificates for a young son dying in Ohio in 1958. No death certificate for “Benjamin Albright” in 1958 either. Nor can I find any articles related to this murder/suicide. This troubles me.

If in fact this house is haunted, there should be at least one story available. At least one paranormal investigation team would have explored this house and posted their evidence. Someone should have written about this tragedy and the fate of this boarded up building. One of the dozens of websites listing haunted houses would have this house on it—with directions.

Urban legends are based on truth. Even a smidgen of truth fuels a tale. However, so many people get caught up in the tale that they don’t question the facts. I would love to read the facts of this story. As it stands now, this is merely a fictitious story about an abandoned and spooky-looking house. Nothing more.

Open Letter to Joseph Melendez, pseudonym Seph Lawless

23 Saturday May 2015

Posted by in Breaking the News, Fiction, In the News

≈ 14 Comments

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Black Friday

Black Friday

Open Letter to Joseph Melendez, pseudonym Seph Lawless

Dear Mr. Melendez:

I will not tolerate your harassment. I will not be subject to electronic bullying. If you are unhappy with the blogs I have written about your “book,” then maybe you should be more forthcoming in your claims. The book I reviewed was not based on real stories. Instead, you made up stories in hopes of selling more copies. This is unethical and amoral. Please refrain from complaining, again, about my writing.

Kind Regards,

Lesia Schnur

Last year I wrote several blogs discussing the amoral behavior of Joseph Melendez, who goes by the pseudonym Seph Lawless. Joseph self-published a book titled 13: An American Horror Story. I took exception to his claims that his stories were fictional—made up. Joseph purported to lots of media outlets that his photographs depicted abandoned houses where heinous crimes were committed. The media ate it up. None of them actually fact-checked the stories. If they had, they would have found out that every story was made up. A lie.

After posting my first blog, I received a couple of comments threatening lawsuits if I didn’t remove my blog. I did not waiver. A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by WordPress, the hosting site of my blog, that Joseph registered a complaint. This is what he wrote:

— BEGIN NOTICE — First name: SEPH Last name: LAWLESS Company name: Address: 8205 FRANKLIN BLVD. City: CLEVELAND State/Region/Province: OHIO ZIP: 44102 Country: United States (US) Phone number: [redacted for privacy] Email address: INFO@SEPHLAWLESS.COM Copyright holder: UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT OFFICE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Location of unauthorized material: https://thehauntedlibrarian.com/2014/11/15/missing-a-haunted-house-or-2-or-3-or/#comments Location of original materials: https://thehauntedlibrarian.com/2014/11/15/missing-a-haunted-house-or-2-or-3-or/#comments Description of original materials: THE IMAGE OF HOUSE IS MY COPYRIGHT IMAGE. THE BLOG USES NOT ONLY THE IMAGE BUT IS ABUSIVE, SLANDEROUS AND USES DEFAMATION IN BLOG AS WELL.

Note: I redacted his telephone number for privacy.

I take exception to this because the blogs are not abusive or slanderous. I wrote the truth. My blogs are covered under the Fair Use Exception of the U.S. Copyright Law, http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107. I criticized his work and he didn’t like it. Well, tough. Don’t tell lies.

Another Note: Interesting enough was the link Joseph provided. It was to another one of his books and not the one I blogged about. Oh my stars!

Morals of this blog: 1) WordPress rocks! They supported by blog. 2) Writers, bloggers, and photographers need to unite to end this type of behavior.

Missing: A Haunted House or 2 or 3 or …

15 Saturday Nov 2014

Posted by in Books, Breaking the News, Ghost Hunting, Haunted Houses, In the News, Reviews

≈ 22 Comments

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Nova House

Nova House

Missing: A Haunted House or 2 or 3 or …

Self-proclaimed “Artivist” Seph Lawless, a pseudonym, has pulled the wool over the paranormal community’s eyes this month. Surprisingly, mainstream media took the bait and fell for it too. Most of the “haunted” houses Lawless photographed and published in his recent book 13: An American Horror Story (Artivist Publishing) are made up. False. Non-existent. “Take that, all you American paranormal suckers!” Seems the joke’s on us, my friends.

  1. Nova House, Youngstown, Ohio.

“Nova House Mystery” posted on Friday, November 7th, https://thehauntedlibrarian.com/2014/11/07/nova-house-mystery/, discusses the made-up story about a house in Youngstown, Ohio. Lawless claims that Benjamin Albright accidently shot and killed his son. Bereft with grief, Albright supposedly turned the gun on his wife and then himself. This tragic murder/suicide supposedly occurred in 1958. Problem is no one named Benjamin Albright died in Ohio in 1958. Nor was this person the father of a boy dying in 1958. Research pays off!

Since posting this blog, I received numerous comments and emails from people from the area who had never heard this story. Some even did some legwork and visited archives only to leave empty handed.

  1. Cater House Estates, Buffalo, New York.

Lawless penned a brief blurb for this photograph claiming that Sheriff Donald Caters shot himself to death in this house. In 1968 the home went into foreclosure and has been vacant since.

Several people have called this story false. Further, I cannot locate any information substantiating this story. Another piece of fiction.

  1. Oliver Family Mansion, Chester, Pennsylvania.

Lawless claims that the Oliver family went missing in 1898 and was never heard from again.

Nothing turned up on this story. Zilch.

  1. Milan Mansion, Milan, Ohio.

Lawless states that a known witch lived in this house and is possibly buried underneath the front door.

Again, I cannot locate any information supporting this story. Further, it is easy to prove with radar. However, the address for this home, like the others, is not available.

  1. Hooley Haunted Mansion, Texas.

Again, I located an electronic bulletin board asking for any information since no one has ever heard of this. My, my, my.

By now, I’m exhausted and disgusted at this juvenile attempt to fool the paranormal community.

I did not pay $99 for the book to see whether Lawless has a tightly drafted clause stating that the stories are for entertainment purposes only. However, he has portrayed these stories as true, when in fact, they are not. This is false advertising. Lawless is attempting to deceive readers and the media. This must stop. Poking fun at the paranormal community is abhorrent. Taking advantage of believers by misrepresenting the truth in order for financial gain is unlawful. The paranormal community should stand up and boycott this interloper. We should also ask those who regurgitated his press release if they actually viewed the book and conducted a little research. Just a little research would have caused a journalist to pause.

Shame on you, all you copy-and-paste “writers”! Do some research next time.

Nova House Mystery

07 Friday Nov 2014

Posted by in Haunted Houses, In the News, Urban Legends

≈ 67 Comments

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Nova House

Nova House

Nova House Mystery

The Internet was abuzz prior to Halloween. Photographer Seph Lawless, a pseudonym, visited several abandoned houses across America and published a coffee table book 13: An American Horror Story. The various websites offered a preview of the houses with brief teasers written by the photographer. One house was especially sinister: The Nova House.

According to Lawless, the Nova House was the site of a horrible accident. In 1958, Benjamin Albright accidently shot and killed his son. Stricken with grief he killed his wife and then turned the gun on himself. Since then the house sits abandoned—shuttered. Moreover, personal items remain inside. What a great story!

The problem is I cannot find any online stories related to this house. Further, I cannot locate any death certificates for a young son dying in Ohio in 1958. No death certificate for “Benjamin Albright” in 1958 either. Nor can I find any articles related to this murder/suicide. This troubles me.

If in fact this house is haunted, there should be at least one story available. At least one paranormal investigation team would have explored this house and posted their evidence. Someone should have written about this tragedy and the fate of this boarded up building. One of the dozens of websites listing haunted houses would have this house on it—with directions.

Urban legends are based on truth. Even a smidgen of truth fuels a tale. However, so many people get caught up in the tale that they don’t question the facts. I would love to read the facts of this story. As it stands now, this is merely a fictitious story about an abandoned and spooky-looking house. Nothing more.